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New York, March 14, 2008: Detailed analysis of political coverage in leading U.S. outlets does not support the argument that Barack Obama is currently pushed by the media. “It seems to be a historical discussion: we noticed ‘Obamania’ in January and February before Super Tuesday, but the situation has changed in March,” says Roland Schatz, President of Media Tenor International. Current data - including Thursday evening’s network news - shows that Obama was slightly better rated than Clinton this week. “But it’s no clear push - and the trend flips up and down from day to day.” Analyzing all coverage in March, ABC and CBS news even rated Clinton better than Obama.
Media Tenor’s data from March indicates Obama lost ground in coverage of his personality. “But it’s not primarily a question of race,” Schatz says. Statements on Obama’s African American descent had no major impact on the image of his personality. “He generally lost his personal appeal to journalists,” Schatz thinks. For Obama it is more problematic that he still cannot convince people when leadership issues are raised. “He still has not closed the ‘experience gap’,” Schatz says. On the other hand, analysis of McCain’s media image shows that he wins on leadership issues. This might help McCain as recession coverage increases in network news.
Is it getting nasty? Detailed analysis does not support this assumption so far. Media Tenor has analyzed quoted explicit evaluations by Clinton and Obama on each other: Clinton, whose quotes were quite aggressive earlier this year, has limited direct evaluation of her opponent in March. This month Obama was quoted slightly more negatively than in February.
ABC and CBS rated Clinton better than Obama
Detailed analysis of political coverage in leading U.S. outlets does not support the argument that Barack Obama is currently pushed by the media. In March ABC and CBS news even rated Clinton better than Obama.
Newsweek, Time, ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox News candidate coverage, 3/1 – 3/13/2008: Obama vs. Clinton
Basis: all statements by or on Obama and Clinton in these magazines and news casts 3/1 – 3/13/2008 (* data incomplete)
“Obamania” in January and February only
Media Tenor data shows “Obamania” in January and February only. Last week, Clinton’s media image was more positive than Obama’s. This week, the trend has changed again – but no return to “Obamania” so far.
ABC, NBC and CBS candidate coverage, 1/1 – 3/13/2008*: tone of coverage by weeks
Basis: all statements by or on Clinton and Obama on ABC, CBS and NBC evening news programs 1/1 – 3/13/2008 (*individual newscasts missing)
Race becomes a more significant issue
Media Tenor’s data from March indicates Obama lost ground in coverage of his personality. It is not primarily a question of race, but statements on Obama’s African American descent are no longer as balanced as they have been before Ferraro’s attack.
Newsweek, Time, ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox News candidate coverage, 3/1 – 3/13/2008: Obama
Basis: all statements in Time, Newsweek, ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX evening news programs 1/1– 3/13/2008
Recession coverage increases in network news
McCain might take advantage of the fact that recession coverage is increasing, as leadership qualities and economic platform might become crucial issues in the upcoming campaign.
ABC, NBC and CBS coverage of selected topics: Economy, 7/1/2007 – 3/13/2008
Basis: a total of 14,998 stories on ABC, CBS and NBC evening news programs 7/1/2007 – 3/6/2008
To read the full Media Tenor election report in PDF format click here.
For the third time, International Media analysis company Media Tenor is offering a detailed analysis of the U.S. presidential campaign. TV news coverage of the leading Presidential contenders is scrutinized at a detailed level. “The methodology was developed 15 years ago and has been successfully used not only to analyze the 2000 and 2004 U.S. Presidential campaigns, but also for International politics as well,” Schatz explains. Media Tenor’s Presidential Campaign Watch focuses not only on Candidate standings, but also on topics and sources, while adding on an international perspective. Results of Media Tenor studies will be regularly published on MediaChannel.org.
For further information visit: MediaTenor.com
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4 Responses to “Media Tenor’s Presidential Campaign Watch”
Posted on 14 Mar 2008 at 5:55 pm by Phil Linehan
He Can Talk the Talk
But Has Anyone Ever Seen Him Walk the Walk?
By Phil Linehan
On throwing his hat into the ring Obama felt he must give voters a good reason
why they should think of him as the man for every season.
His Swahili name, he boasts, signifies one blessed by a God Almighty.
To make us love him can he be hinting it’s the one called Aphrodite?
To elderly Jewish ladies, when he wanted it’s origin to describe.
he said it was a Hebrew name, could it be from a Lost Tribe?
No need to explain the background of his second name Hussein,
which was very seldom heard as he embarked on his campaign.
He feels that, to be fair, he must give every ethnic group its place,
and he leaves no stone unturned as he covers every base.
So, as to reach out to those of every background he desperately seeks,
why have we not heard as yet any mention of the Greeks?
He says his U.S. family is connected to a Native American forebear
although exactly to which one he did not. I believe, declare.
To present himself as an African-American he has also managed to contrive.
but is one allowed to ask in which slave ship did his ancestors arrive?
One talent he does have and that no-one can refute
is his ability to talk the talk in a way that’s most astute.
His gift of the gab with which he would us all beguile
can only be inherited from the O’Bamas in what is called the Emerald Isle.
So there he stands before us, he who claims to be Everyman
as we wonder when we’ll hear he has relations in Japan.
Why is it that whenever on TV he stood up and spoke
all I could see on the screen were his mirrors and his smoke?
The captivated press guys punched their laptops and set their emails humming
as they wrote of Barack Obama as they would the Second Coming.
And they lauded him as a potential saviour of the nation
oblivious, it would seem, he was a Messiah of their very own creation.
With his smooth talk he mesmerized many a TV talking head
and few, if any, complained about the pap they were being fed.
As he claimed he’d ban donations from special interests and lobbyists as well,
on the cash they gave to his campaign the reporters did not dwell.
One thing he supports wholeheartedly, is what he calls free trade
yet he swears that, if elected, he will tear up every agreement ever made.
What he believes is trade that’s free, we should not be at all surprised
is flooding foreign markets with U.S. goods that are heavily subsidized.
He furiously rants against two-way trade with Mexico and Canada
and swears he will stop their exports if he becomes the Big Enchilada.
With a wink an aide told the Canadian Ambassador it was one of his boss’s jokes
meant to appease complaining Ohio workers whom Obama calls “the folks”.
If to look at his government’s trade figures he had only taken the trouble
he would see that since NAFTA U.S. exports to Mexico are double.
So if he is ever in a position to give the trade agreement opt out order
the loudest cheers will be heard from south of the U.S.-Mexico border.
His friendship with Tony Resko, charged with money laundering and extortion
has been, he claims, by critics blown out of all proportion.
On talk about his land deal with fraudster Nadhmi Auchi he hopes to put a brake
by saying buying his Chicago mansion from him was a “boneheaded mistake”.
How many more boneheaders may we expect will be revealed,
when diggers begin to search for any that so far may have been concealed?
If media talking heads and scribblers tried to analyze what Obama has to say
they would realize it has the same substance as a sad collapsed soufflé.
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Posted on 14 Mar 2008 at 9:37 pm by Diann Helnore
Listening to Obama’s minister of 20 years, who married him and his wife, baptised his children, it is easy to see why Michelle his wife is so hateful. And am I right, the first time she has been proud of our country is when they supported Barack? I believe that it is true that Obama will not wear a Flag lapel pin. I also believe that it is true that he does not cross his heart to say the Pledge of Alligiance. I actually think America is blindly electing someone to teh office of President, that hates Whote people and our country. Wake up you dumb young people . This may be a movement, but not one that is going to benefit our country.
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Posted on 14 Mar 2008 at 9:38 pm by Francis Scalzi
Sorry folks, but none of the three potential or ensconced candidates will any longer garner much attention from our mainstream press or TV media for the duration. Other than perhaps a tedious perfunctory political report or two, it will be 24/7 Spitzer, SEX, Spitzer’s wife, prostitution, that particular prostitute, more SEX, more Spitzer, and lots of fake-erudite “analysis” of the Spitzergate SEX scandal. McCain, Obama, and Clinton cannot possibly compete with pop psychologists, news “analysts”, and such breathtaking Situation Room SEX reports by Wolfe Blitzer or endless gum exercise from Chris Matthews and his like. And do take note that Iraq, Afghanistan, and a number of other prosaic news “items” have almost completely disappeared from the news cycle lately. So forget bar graphs and the factual reports about the election or any thing else. SEX will govern the coverage for a while until the news market cools a bit and the REAL furor dies down.
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Posted on 15 Mar 2008 at 9:28 am by Bev
In this country, the label of African American does not pertain to whether or not an ancestor arrived on slave ships - by virtue of skin color and the fact that his father was African, Obama is legally designated as African American. And why is it so important that someone wear a flag on their lapel? Why is it so important that someone say the Pledge? For all the years of watching politicos make the Pledge then turn around and circumvent the Constitution, well, that merely speaks to the ritual rather than the reality. Frankly, I’m still waiting for any of the candidates to sit down and really discuss how they plan to MAKE PROGRESS rather than how they HOPE to win.
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